Sharon Meroni is a one-woman crusade against voter fraud in the state of Illinois…and she’s amazing to watch in person (or in YouTube videos) because she’s made it her personal mission to force compliance with Illinois’ election laws here in Chicago and in greater Cook County. It’s shocking how much voter fraud and illegal activity happens in our election system just because the general public never forces Boards of Election to actually comply with existing requirements in a state’s election-governing statutes.

Sharon is a mom from the Chicago suburbs who founded Defend the Vote, the very first organization of its kind meant to target voter fraud and prevent it in what’s arguably the most corrupt state in the union. Prior to starting up this group two years ago, Sharon was never involved in politics and actually was a corporate headhunter; Defend the Vote just sort of happened because Sharon saw the need for something like it and decided to stop waiting for someone else to make it happen. So began working every day to make herself an expert in Illinois election law…and then set out to audit the process in this state to see just how much shenanigans the various election entities in Illinois were up to.

I’ve been following her work in the lead up to (and aftermath of) the 2012 election and have actually started attending Boards of election meetings on my own, too, so I can see in person the sort of things Sharon describes on Defend the Vote’s own site. It’s shocking how some of these Board Members treat citizens in Illinois and how unserious they are about voter fraud.

There are actually three different election entities that impact life in Chicago; listed in order from most professional to absolutely ridiculous, they are:

* The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (which covers the City of Chicago itself)

* The Illinois State Board of Elections (covering the whole state)

* The Cook County Clerk’s Office (which handles “suburban Cook County”, which is the part of Cook County that’s not Chicago itself)

It’s surprising, but the City of Chicago election officials are actually very nice to deal with…and remain professional during their board meetings. Sharon Meroni caught the City of Chicago illegally using the wrong documents to verify signatures on absentee ballots…and immediately after she brought this to their attention they swooped in and corrected what was happening…and even apparently took measures to correct the mistakes they made on about two hundred thousand ballots (proof that they made the correction is still forthcoming, but at the last Board Meeting the Executive Director Lance Gough told Sharon that he’d sent her a written report showing the changes and corrections they made in the matter). It actually seems like the people on the City’s Board want the elections to be free of fraud and incompetence…but they just don’t have anyone focused on identifying problems. When someone like Sharon takes the time to observe problems and report on them, the City Board seems to listen and doesn’t waste time addressing what’s wrong.

It’s a completely different story with the State Board of Elections in Illinois, with the Board in this case behaving like clowns and buffoons at their meetings. Large amounts of time are taken up at State Board meetings talking about matters unrelated to the actual elections: sugar cookies, employees who have been with the Board for many years and who wanted their resumes read aloud for some reason, various personal gripes the Board members have about life in general, what people are doing for fun that coming weekend, etc. When Sharon’s attended State Board meetings, the Board Members treat her derisively and say ridiculous things to her like, “You’re not a member of the Board!” or “We’ll only listen to you for 10 minutes and then you have to shut up!”. Meanwhile, there’s no limit to the amount of time that can be spent talking about sugar cookies. The State Board has no interest in hearing about security flaws or illegal activity in its election system…and in fact takes the attitude that “nothing’s wrong and we don’t want to hear about anything being wrong because we don’t want to fix anything!”. They remind me a lot of an after-school club in high school that puts on rallies and things, only they don’t do all that great a job doing it but they are seniors so they “rule the school” and no one can tell them otherwise. They are absolute clowns, every last one of them.

Then there’s the weird entity that is the Cook Count Clerk’s Office, which has been run by a petty tyrant named David Orr since 1992. He just keeps getting reelected, largely because Republicans don’t bother to run anyone against him and he’s a key part of the Chicago political machine so he’s never challenged in any sort of primary. He’s, thus, one of the Illinois aristocrats of the Left who keep things going “the Chicago way” perpetually. The Clerk’s Office is not required to hold any public meetings and there is no mechanism to force David Orr or anyone who works for him to answer questions from the public. All someone like Sharon Meroni can do is submit FOIA requests, which the Clerk’s Office is required to respond to eventually. But, since there is no Board and no public meetings, the Clerk’s Office operates almost entirely in shadows…and does all sorts of things that violate state election law. David Orr gives the impression he’s quite proud of this.

Once you start looking into this stuff, it’s amazing how much everyone involved with elections hates when the public starts paying attention to them. Even professional people like those on the City of Chicago Board of Election Commissioners don’t like public scrutiny. They aren’t used to it, they have never had to deal with this before, and they largely don’t know how to behave themselves when questioned by citizens.

There’s some kind of meeting or observable event for at least one of the election bodies covering Chicago every other day or so, it seems…and the moment one election is finished they all start gearing up for the next one. In Chicago’s case, there are primaries in February for April’s local elections. There’s also going to be a big mess caused by Jesse Jackson Jr’s meltdown and resignation from Congress. And then before any of us can believe it, we’ll have the 2014 elections and their own primaries just around the corner. It never ends.

And none of it will ever get any better unless regular people start taking an interest in all of this.

I think we’re really lucky to have someone like Sharon Meroni here in Chicago, making it her personal mission to become an expert in all things election-related. I know she’s having an impact just by how unhinged she makes the Illinois State Board and by how much they clearly dislike her presence at their meetings. If they were competent people with nothing to hide who were doing their jobs effectively, then they wouldn’t care a lick that Sharon is taking an interest in them. Just imagine how their counterparts would act in YOUR home state if you made elections and ballot-integrity your own mission where you live.

It’s a lot of reading, going to meetings, and hard work…but the payoff can be pretty big. Sharon Meroni caught the City in illegal activity and forced them to correct themselves. Who knows what she’ll catch next…or what YOU could help catch happening in your own part of the country.

Kevin DuJan is the author of SHUT UP! The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment. He is a gay, Catholic, conservative, Republican who advocates for government transparency, Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and First Amendment rights. He lives in Chicago with his boyfriend Justin.

I’ve been on record as someone who has not been a fan of Mark Kirk, largely because of personal issues I have with some of his close supporters and loyal political operatives in Illinois. There are things I don’t like about him, too, on a personal level and there are matters I believe he should come clean about to the voters of this state, but I want to tell all of you today that I am incredibly impressed by the job Mark Kirk is doing as Senator and even more impressed by the efficiency and effectiveness of his staff.

For the last few months, I’ve been helping a friend of mine who had an issue with someone working in a federal government agency here in Chicago — and the short story of it is that my friend was discriminated against and treated horribly by this government employee. The agency closed ranks and its Director here in Chicago refused to address the matter and essentially told my friend that he would not speak to her or correspond with her regarding what happened. My friend felt stymied and helpless and came to me because I enjoy writing letters and had the time to invest in researching exactly how to effectively complain about the treatment dispensed by this particular employee of a federal agency.

I wrote to Senator Dick Durbin, the female Congressperson representing my friend’s district, and Senator Mark Kirk asking for their help via their constituent relations offices. The only one to respond was Senator Kirk’s office. For those keeping track, that’s a Democrat Senator and a Democrat Congressperson ignoring the needs of a black female lesbian constituent while the Republican Senator answered her call for help.Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin DuJan is the author of SHUT UP! The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment. He is a gay, Catholic, conservative, Republican who advocates for government transparency, Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and First Amendment rights. He lives in Chicago with his boyfriend Justin.

On August 2nd the House released an investigative report on Solyndra, the failed solar energy company, which shows beyond a doubt the Obama administration abused taxpayer dollars for political gain.

Solyndra received a $535 million loan, straight from our pocket, as part of Obama’s “green jobs” strategy. Indeed, Solyndra was considered one of the jewels in Obama’s green recovery crown. When Obama visited the plant in 2010, he highlighted Solyndra as an example of the “right thing to do for the economy,” claiming the plant would employ at least 1,000 high paying jobs.

As is so often the case with lofty oratory, the reality never lived up to the rhetoric.

First, the Obama administration pressured federal reviewers to sign off on Solyndra despite misgivings about the viability of the company and of the government’s loan model. Emails released by the investigators show the Office of Management and Budget responding to White House requests by saying “We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews.” The loan was ultimately approved, clearly under political duress as an OMB staffer remarked “given the time pressure we are under to sign off on Solyndra, we don’t have time to change the model.”

It quickly became clear that Solyndra was in peril as it began to miss payments on the loan. A government analysis warned that the company would run out of money in September of 2011 and recommended that the government simply cut its losses. Instead, the government chose to restructure the loan, ultimately wasting MORE of our tax dollars than if they had simply allowed Solyndra to fail.

The investigators released emails which clearly indicate the decision to restructure the loan – which inexplicably put taxpayers LAST to recoup losses – was made for political reasons. One government analyst remarked that a Solyndra failure “would likely be very embarrassing for DOE and the Administration.”Another commented that she was “vastly confused by DOE’s decision to negotiate away their senior position in this transaction.”

The final insult came when White House Chief of Staff Jack Yew, perhaps sensing that Solyndra was beyond saving, decided to wash his hands of any further involvement in the Solyndra restructuring. Let me say that again to be sure it sinks in:

Despite the administration’s self-proclaimed “quite active interest” in securing the loan for Solyndra, just months before it failed, the White House distanced itself from any further decision making.

No doubt so that when it finally failed, they could blame it on OMB / DOE / Bush (which is exactly what they tried to do).

This is an example of Chicago Politics at its finest. We have a choice in 2012. Are you voting for four more years of cronyism and abuse of our wallets? “Bank of Washington” my ass… it’s the Bank of We the People. I say we shut the damn doors. #ABO2012

Robert is a long-time super-fan of Hillbuzz, an occasional contributor, and an avid reader. Robert follows politics with a passion and believes progressive liberalism will be the ruination of the United States of America unless brave souls can stand up and provide articulate opposition to the progressive movement.

I’m helping a friend with a problem she’s having dealing with the State of Illinois and it made me want to ask if you ever encounter anyone in the year 2012 who insists on using fax machines.

I remember when I was in eighth grade one of my classmates forgot to bring in her permission slip to go on a field trip to an amusement park — and the cruel and myopic nun who served as principal claimed she couldn’t do anything about it and was forced to make Tanesha stay at school while the rest of us went together as class to Geauga Lake for the day. Tanesha was bawling, and all Sister Roberta would do was stand there with her arms folded, lecturing the girl about how irresponsible her mother was for not making sure the permission slip was submitted before the day of the field trip.

This petty drama broiled until the bus arrived and we loaded up for the field trip, with Tanesha still crying and the nun not budging. It then occurred to me to ask Sister Roberta if either the school or the rectory next door had a fax machine — because then they could just fax a permission slip to Tanesha’s mom and then she could sign it and fax it back and then no one had to cry anymore that day and no one had to be a villain. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy until they processed that this would meet all of their rules and requirements and would be easy to pull off.

That happened in 1989, in the years before email, and I can’t think of another worthwhile encounter I’ve had with a fax machine (or fax-a-machine, as my friend Panda — and apparently others — calls it) since.

Kevin DuJan is the author of SHUT UP! The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment. He is a gay, Catholic, conservative, Republican who advocates for government transparency, Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and First Amendment rights. He lives in Chicago with his boyfriend Justin.

If you live in the state of Illinois, do not ever early vote — the electronic voting machines in this state are not secure and entities are manipulating computers to rig elections through complex slights of hand (or keyboard and lever, as the case may be).

I’m sure you’re shocked, right? Voter fraud in Illinois, of all places? Next thing you know, somebody will tell you John F. Kennedy owed his presidency to this kind of smoke-filled-room and cemetery-friendly sort of thing.

There’s a woman here in Chicagoland who I — honest to goodness — believe will one day be written about in history books alongside Mercy Otis Warren, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Jane Adams, and Susan B. Anthony; this woman is fearless and one of the few people I’ve ever met who made me stand back and think, “Wow…I just met somebody who they’re going to make a movie about someday…and whoever gets to play her in it is going to walk home with the Academy Award, hands-down”.

She’s a dynamo named Sharon Meroni who began a one-woman crusade against Voter Fraud in Illinois — which is clearly one of — if not the — most corrupt states in the union, where every trick imaginable is employed to tilt elections to the permanent political class’ pre-determined results.

This fraud is bipartisan, folks, as the permanent political class envelopes both sides of the political aisle and corrupt Republicans turn blind eyes to the election-rigging committed by Democrats while the Democrats are busy doing the same thing for Republicans in races the two parties agreed ahead of time they’d each win…so entrenched political power players are forever guaranteed re-election so they can maintain their aristocratic stranglehold on this state. Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin DuJan is the author of SHUT UP! The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment. He is a gay, Catholic, conservative, Republican who advocates for government transparency, Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and First Amendment rights. He lives in Chicago with his boyfriend Justin.

This couldn’t be good news for Obama and his team. The LA Times is reporting that William Daley gave Obama his letter of resignation last week and will be replaced by Budget Director Jack Lew. Daley has only been Chief of Staff for one year. The change will take place by the end of this month and according to White House staffers….Daley’s resignation took Obama completely by surprise. Daley has stated publicly that he wanted to return to Chicago but would stay by Obama’s side until after his re-election.

So…why the sudden change of heart? Daley is a very smart man and a very seasoned politician so it stands to reason that he wants to jump ship before it sinks. I wouldn’t want my name associated with a losing team. I’m not buying the “I’ve just got to get back to Chicago… the city that I love.” If things were all hunky-dory in Washington then Daley would be all over Obama’s re-election campaign.

I feel like these Fast and Furious posts are beginning to be weekly (sometimes daily) briefings….things are happening so quickly. Yesterday at a press briefing, Jay Carney made it perfectly clear that the White House continues to support Eric Holder and maintains that the AG isn’t hiding anything…that he didn’t (nor did the White House) know about the details of Fast and Furious.

(The Hill)“The president believes he’s an excellent attorney general and has great confidence in him, and we absolutely know that the testimony he gave was consistent and truthful,” Carney told reporters at a press briefing.

If this were any other Administration, the AG would have turned in his resignation by now…if for no other reason than to take responsibility for their team. If something bad happens in your department on your watch….it’s your responsibility. Eric Holder acts as if the Department of Justice has nothing to do with the ATF. Alberto Gonzales turned in his resignation to President Bush for something far less scandalous than Fast and Furious. So why does the White House continue to back Holder? Probably because they really need him to oversee the 2012 elections. How else are they going to get away with voter fraud (think Black Panther voter intimidation)? Voter fraud may be the only way that Barack Obama will remain in the White House. They know they have a very dear friend and partner in crime in Holder….one who can mysteriously make voter fraud complaints disappear (even with video tape evidence)….one who can mysteriously make military absentee ballots disappear. I have always thought that Holder is just holding his breath and stonewalling the investigation to get through the 2012 elections where he is praying for a congressional democratic takeover. Then he can throw the Fast and Furious investigation out the window because he will be able to control what gets investigated and what doesn’t. Hey…who knows…they may even be able to continue with Fast and Furious and get the gun control legislation that they want. The sky would be the limit… which scares the hell out of me.

This past Saturday, Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley (D-5th District) addressed an audience of mostly Islamic students at the American Islamic College Conference in Chicago. At about the 2:15 point in the above video, Quigley apologizes “on behalf of the country” for the discrimination that Muslims have suffered here in America. I am so dumbfounded by his remarks that I am completely speechless. I don’t think I even need to analyze this moron’s speech or give possible reasons as to why he would say something so stupid and un-American (like he’s suffering from an incurable mental illness or he’s on medication that makes him say crazy things).

It’s obvious why he would feel the need to apologize to Muslims on behalf of the country….

He’s a Democrat.

FYI Mr. Quigley…You DO NOT speak for me because we owe NO ONE an apology…especially Muslims.

Mr. Quigley is up for re-election in 2012. Let’s plan to throw our support behind his opponent. This should be one of our priority campaigns.

Obama’s troubles are beginning to pile up…and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Republicans coming into the 2012 elections(and I’m not even talking about this miserable economy). 3 very shady newsworthy scandals involving the Obama White House are slowly creeping into the news. Of course, they aren’t in the news as much as they should be but people are beginning to know some of the criminal activity that makes up the day to day schedule of this White House. I thought I would do a brief summary of the 3 “biggies” and do follow up posts when new details are learned.

So…here goes

1. Fast and Furious: Most everyone is familiar with this one. It’s the ATF “sting” operation in which assault weapons were knowingly sold to violent Mexican drug cartel members with the intent of tracking these guns into Mexico to catch higher ups in the cartel world. The problem is that most of these assault weapons have disappeared into the underworld of Mexican crime and are showing up at violent crime scenes…including the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. This little scandal involves the ATF, FBI, DEA, Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security…..all under the watchful eye of the Department of Justice. I do not believe that Obama will be implicated in this one because Eric Holder is the front-man and Obama will be protected at all cost. Just my opinion.

2. Solyndra: This one has been getting a lot of press lately. Solyndra is a California based company that makes solar panels. Obama made it the poster-child for his green jobs initiative and publicly touted it’s huge potential to not only advance the movement towards solar power but also the benefit of creating more jobs. So..what’s the problem you ask? Solyndra was doomed from the beginning and was in serious financial trouble before the White House granted it a $535 million loan guarantee (through the Stimulus legislation). The problem with Solyndra is that it’s new solar panels (which are cylindrical and supposedly lighter and easier to install) are very expensive to make and thus are more expensive to buy so consumers are continuing to buy the cheaper flat panels….which work just as well. Solyndra was never ever ever going to be profitable and the White House was warned about this but still continued to push for stimulus money. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy on September 6th…leaving the American taxpayer with a $535 million dollar tab. Oh….and one more thing….the primary shareholder in Solyndra is The George Kaiser Family Foundation. George Kaiser is a rather large campaign fundraiser for Obama and has visited the White House 16 times since 2009. What a coincidence.

3. Lightsquared: So far…there has been very little press about this one and details are still emerging. Lightsquared is a company that is involved in the broadband connectivity network. Their product would make it easier and faster for people to connect to wireless networks. The company is owned by the hedge fund Harbinger Capital. This hedge fund is headed by billionaire Philip Falcone who happens to be a huge donor to Democratic senatorial campaigns as well as to Obama’s campaign. Shortly after he made large donations to Democratic senatorial campaigns, the FCC granted the company a waiver to build their national 4g wireless network cheaply….which is a highly unusual move for the FCC. What a coincidence. Numerous people are crying foul but the bigger scandal here is something a little more criminal than big donor favoritism. The Pentagon is very concerned about Lightsquared’s new broadband network because the GPS system that it uses would interfere with the same system that the military uses to help it with missile tracking (among other things). The Pentagon sent Air Force General William Shelton to testify at a closed door meeting about their concerns. Just a few days ago, General Shelton revealed to House strategic forces subcommittee staffers that the White House tried to “encourage” him to say things in his testimony that would be beneficial to the Lightsquared project. The General was not too happy about being asked to change his testimony on the request of the White House. This one is much more than a “pay to play” scandal. This one is flat-out criminal and involves witness tampering. This has been getting some media coverage but not very much. It is my opinion that this one is the worst of the 3 scandals for Obama but time will tell whether he will suffer politically. I’m betting that there are many more “Solyndra’s” and “Lightsquared’s” out there but we’ll never know with our politically biased media.

There’s one thing that’s for sure with this crooked administration….

You can take Obama out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of Obama.

The reason this is interesting for those of you far from Chicago is that it’s classic Cocktail Party GOP establishment nature to protect guys like Roupas no matter how badly they perform, because these guys are being groomed to replace Cocktail Party guys higher up the cucumber and mayonnaise chain, ensuring the status quo remains the same in Republican ranks indefinitely.

This is what America’s really up against, on a national scale, because every GOP entity at the state, county, and local level is more likely than not run by people who hold these positions for the sheer prestige and honor of holding the position. They are not interested, at all, in winning elections. They just want to look fancy in their sharp blue blazers and hand out the nicest, most expensive business cards at networking events.

When one of these guys screws things up royally — as Roupas did repeatedly — the Cocktail Party GOP establishment circles the wagons and protects him for as long as possible, instead of firing him straight away and finding someone more competent who could actually work towards winning elections. The reasoning in the Cocktail Party ranks is that if any one of them is ever dragged out of office, it could mean the rest of them would be vulnerable like that as well.

This makes the Republican Party’s organization — coast to coast — more like an exclusive fraternity than a political organization focused on winning elections. In many cases, like here in Chicago, the GOP doesn’t even want to TRY to win elections. Republicans didn’t even bother to field a candidate for Mayor in this spring’s election. Roupas and the rest of the Cocktail Party boys here were more focused on planning their next networking event, because they’re only involved with the GOP to see how this involvement can advance and enrich their own personal careers.

They have fun at events, they like posing for pictures, and they use the connections they make in the GOP to build lucrative careers for themselves…just like they’d do in a fraternity at an Ivy League school.

The older fraternity members protect and mentor the younger ones, and donors to the Republican Party at every level fund all of this, even though guys like Roupas have no real intention of ever doing anything to stop the Left or beat Democrats at the ballot box.

In case you haven’t figured it out, guys like Roupas are the biggest supporters of Mittens “Mood Ring” Romneycare because Romney would undoubtedly give them all well-paying, fancy-titled positions on his presidential campaign. No one really cares if Romney will win or not, because they’re just after new business cards that prove they were important to the campaign, so they can use all this on their resumes for better jobs the next year.

I know nothing about Sig Vaznelis, but there’s no way he can do a worse job as Cook County Chair than Roupas.

But, as bad as Roupas was, I’m sure you’ll see him pop up somewhere again, maybe in another state, since the Cocktail Party tends to recycle these guys and give them endless mulligans whenever and wherever they fail.

Kevin DuJan is the author of SHUT UP! The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment. He is a gay, Catholic, conservative, Republican who advocates for government transparency, Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and First Amendment rights. He lives in Chicago with his boyfriend Justin.